2020 - Once upon a time in Islamic Gibraltar
This work was reprinted in . . . 1600, 1603, 1606, 1646, 1653, 1654, and 1675. No better illustration can be given of the utter contempt in which the study of Arabic literature was held in Spain during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, than the fact that this wretched production should have gone through so many editions,
The history of the original manuscript - supposedly written by somebody called Abulcasim Tarif Abentarique – and translated by God knows who - is worth repeating. Its original owner appears to have been Castillo el Viejo. He lent the manuscript to somebody called “el Merini” and when this gentleman died, his daughter gave it to Miguel de Luna who among other things happened to be the official court translator of Arabic to Philip II of Spain. De Luna in turn used it to write a book claiming that it represented his own translation of a manuscript written by an authentic historian - Abulcasim Tarif Abentarique
The clue as to why Miguel de Luna bothered to carry out this deception probably lies in the title. Let me quote the American historian Gioia Marie Kerlin:
In Spain’s Romance tradition, Rodrigo is often represented as a passionate although misguided man whose desire oversteps the boundaries of his good judgement, Luna’s Visigothic monarch is portrayed as a cowardly rapist and tyrant who corrupts the faith of his subjects. Luna criticises Rodrigo’s reign . . . by rewriting and reconceptualising the legendary king in such a way as to re shape Spain’s Islamic legacy.
La causa principal de mi atrevimiento fue haverme hallado en la guerra de España, desde el punto q el capitán Tarif (Tarif ibn Malik Abu Far) entró en ella, con el Conde don Iuli (Julian), hasta que se acabó su conquista, personalmente en todas las batallas y recuentros de enemigos. . . p22
. . . reynaba en España un rey de profesión Christiano llamado por nombre don Rodrigo. Godo de nación natural de Scitia, el qual tenia en aquel tiempo su Reyno en paz, tranquilidad y sosiego sin guerras ni discordias, como nuestro Rey y señor Miramamolin Auilgualit Iacob Almacor (Omayyad caliph Al-Walid I) estuvo en su tiempo. p24
Y como la ociosidad acarrea vicios, y grandes daños, este desdichado rey . . .dio el ejercitar malos ejercicios, y como tenia el reynado en confianza y gobernación por un sobrino suyo llamado don Sancho (Iñigo Sánchez) hijo mayor de su hermano, llamado por nombre el Rey Acosta: tenia mucha pena y deseaba heredar la sucesión para tener el Ceptro Real en propiedad, y no en la manera que avemos referido.
Notes: Sancho’s hankering after the Visigothic throne would be news to most modern historians – but it would not surprise me if it were true. I am also presuming that by Tarif, the author actually meant Tariq ibn Ziyad. As regards Acosta I can only presume that he was a previous king of the Visigoths.
The story continues with Sancho’s mother Anagilda asking and obtaining permission from Rodrigo to move her family from Toledo to Cordoba. The rivalry between Rodrigo and his perceived adversary persisted to such an extent that the king obtains the help of one of his courtiers called Ataulpho, to find incriminating evidence of treachery so that he can imprison his brother -in-law. The plot succeeds but Sancho’s mother subsequently manages to obtain his release. They returned to Cordoba, fearful for their lives:
. . . temiendo no fuera contra ella el rey don Rodrigo, recogió luego sus riquezas y todos los fieles y criados . . . y dio la vuelta a . . . unas tierras llamadas Algeciras, que eran del Conde don Iulian (Julián) por cuya causa se conquistó a España. p27
Notes: It was from Algeciras that Anagilda wrote a lengthy letter to “don Rodrigo, el tirano contra Sancho” although apparently not before having managed to have Ataulpho’s nose and ears cut off. Rodrigo, worried by this turn of events, asked Julian to find out whether Sancho and his mother intended crossing over to Africa in order to get help from the Muslims and if so, would he, Julian cross over himself and find out whether he could do something to avoid this from happening.
Assi sin detenerse, partió cargado de dadivas y joyas . . . a hacer su embajada ofreciéndole amistad al Virrey que gobernaba en aquel reyno, que se llamava Muca el canhani (Musa ibn Nusayr) el qual prestaba obediencia al rey Aluilgualit Miramolin Iacob Almacor (Al-Walid I) que reynaba en las Arabias en aquel tiempo. p31
Notes: Something of a waste of time apparently as both Sancho and his mother took up residence in Tangier and promptly died. The author does not explain whether this might have been as a result of Julian’s intervention but it was good news for Rodrigo who promptly called a grand meeting in Toledo where he claimed the right to be the unopposed king of the Visigoths. p32 .
After a few pages describing Rodrigo’s vicious removal of everybody who might have been associated with Sancho, the author continues:
Del mal ejemplo de vida y costumbres de este rey, nacieron tantos vicios, maldades, y tryciones entre sus súbditos, que no se trataba verdad, ni podían vivir sino con gran trabajo. . . en este tiempo se hallaba Rodrigo mancebo, y por casar. . . y deseaba en extremo casarse para tener hijos legítimos que sucediese en sus estados.
Notes: Then follows another long, turgid passage about Zahra Abnalyaca, the daughter of an African king, Mahometo Abnehedin. Rather than give you that, here is a quote from Patricia E. Grieve’s The Eve of Spain published in 2009.
Zahra and her ladies-in-waiting were amusing themselves on the shore and climbed aboard a ship to rest. Heavy winds launched the ship and they, along with bad fortune hurled the boat across the Strait until the ship struck the Spanish coast, where Zahra and her company were taken prisoner. Presented to King Rodrigo, Zahra falls in love, and Rodrigo is equally smitten. After converting to Christianity, Zahra marries Rodrigo . . . Those who went home informed Zahra’s father of her marriage to the Christian King, ”el cual de oir esta nueva se cayó muerto de su estado.”
Notes: The story continues with the introduction of the beautiful Florinda, Julian’s daughter, who was being looked after by Rodrigo while her father was acting as ambassador for the king in Africa. Unfortunately, Rodrigo found it impossible to keep his hands off Florinda and duly raped her.
Florinda then wrote to the father about Rodrigo’s actions and he immediately left Africa and made his way to Toledo where he asked the king whether he could take Florinda back home to see her mother who was missing her badly. Rodrigo reluctantly agreed and they both left for Algeciras. There they discussed what could be done to avenge Florinda’s disgrace.
Y para ver lo que podía hacer en aquel caso, secretamente hizo llamar a todos sus deudos y le dio parte de aquel mal suceso de lo que todos fueron muy enojados contra el Rey y deseaban hallar algún medio para vengar aquella injuria; y como no le hallasen en España acordaron que el Conde Julián volviera en Africa y tratase con Musa . . .
Notes: Julian then offered Musa the possibility of easily and quickly invading Iberia. The cautious Islamic commander then wrote a letter commending Julian to his caliph, Al-Walid I and gave it to Julian who immediately set off to Arabia to visit the Caliph personally. Al-Walid I and his councillors were duly impressed and sent Julian back to Musa with a letter of reply telling him to select a brave commander to carry out Julian’s proposals.
Musa . . . luego eligio por Capitán para aquel hecho a un moro valeroso, llamado por nombre Tarif Abensier natural de la ciudad de Damasco. El cual juntamente con . . . Julián, junto con seis milhombres de pie y unos pocos caballos . . . pasaron por un estrecho que llaman los Cristianos españoles de Hércules (Straits of Gibraltar) y después fue llamado por el Capitán Tarif Iabal-fath (Jabal -al-Fath). p41
Notes: If one can trust other more believable accounts, the above is – to say the least - full of dubious information. There is some disagreement as to whether Tarif was either a Berber or an Arab so it is possible that he was from Damascus but it seem unlikely.
The Straits were known as “de Hercules” but it was not renamed by Tarif or anybody else as “Labal-fath”. The last could possibly refer to Jabal al-Fath, the name given to Gibraltar by the founder of the city in 1160, many years before this event.
However, the passage makes more sense if by “Tarif Abensier” the author is referring to Tariq ibn Ziyad who most historians, past and present, agree was responsible for the naming of Gibraltar as the “mountain of Tariq” - Jabal Tarik.
The next chapter deals with the legend of the so-called Padlocked house - which I have left out as it is more or less a repeat of other much older versions. The next chapter returns to the main story:
Luego que llegaron a África el Capitán Tarif Abeziet, y el conde don Iulian estaban los dos muy contento . . . del buen suceso y victoria q avían avido en aquella entrada a España: y así fuero(n) bien recibidos del Governador Musa. p46
Notes: To continue, Musa, Tarif (Tariq?) and Julian decided to visit Al-Walid I personally in order to convince him that the conquest of Iberia was not just possible but very desirable; and convince him they duly did. P46/47/48.
Y auiendo tratado muy en particular todo lo que convenia mirado los inconvenientes que se podrían ofrecer, y tratándolos con el Rey Miramamolín Almanzor, se resolvió que España se conquistase y para hacer la guerra al Rey don Rodrigo . . . p48
The following text confuses the entire issue by having Al-Walid I appoint a certain Greek overlord called Hisa el Humanin to take part in the invasion as head of thirty thousand well prepared soldiers. The Caliph also managed to persuade the King of Tunis to help him out in his plan to invade Iberia. The net result was the addition of an additional army led by one of the sons of gthe Kings of Tunis called Mahometo Gilhair as well as the large number of ships needed to take them to the African coast where Musa would welcome them. P50/51
. . . entretanto que esto se hiziesse, pasasse el Capitán Tarif Abenziet, (Tariq) juntamente con el Conde don Julián, con alguna gente, a la tierra de España, para poder mejor reconocer, y tomar lengua del aparato de guerra que hacía el Rey don Rodrigo. . . y así se embarcó el Tarif Abenzier, juntamente con el Conde don Julian, con seis mil hombres, así moros, como cristianos de los del bando del Conde don Julián, y trescientos hombres de a caballo. p51
Y llegados en España atravesando el estrecho de Gibraltar a tomaron una sierra bien acomodada para su designio, a la cual puso por nombre el Capitán Tarif, La Sierra de Tarif, dándole el mismo nombre en memoria suya por ser la primera cosa que gano en España. P51
Notes: “La Sierra de Tarif” would be Yabal Tarif. In most other versions in which the commander of the invasion forces is described as Tarik ibn Ziyad, Gibraltar would have derived from Jabal Tariq.
Rodrigo. . . envió contra el a su Capitán Ataulpho con un buen ejercito de treinta mil hombres de a pie y quinientos de a caballo.
Notes: The resulting skirmish did not go well for the Muslim forces. However, it so happened that Tarif’s men came across an old woman who told them that when she was young her father had forecast that Iberia would be conquered by the Muslims and lost to the Christians. The Islamic leader, she continued, would be a brave man with a large black mole on his right shoulder and that his right arm would be longer than his left.
. . .y allí en presencia de todos los suyos y del Conde don Julián se desnudó (Tarif/Tariq) y aviendo mirado con cuidado aquellas señales, hallaron el lunar que la mujer avía dicho y también la mano derecha mas larga que la izquierda, aunque no tanto como ella decía.
Notes: Tarif, made good use of this unexpected bonus. He rallied his troops who gained victory over the Christian forces and killed Ataulpho. Tarif returned to Gibraltar and sent news of his victory to Musa. Rodrigo, on the other hand was stunned to learn that his captain had suffered such a heavy defeat. He moved his court to Cordoba and ordered his allies to convene there to decide what to do next. The result was the creation of an army of 80 000 foot-soldiers and 20 000 cavalry-men. Rodrigo also named as captain general of his army an archbishop named Orpas (Oppas) who was a relation of his. p55
Other accounts suggest that Oppas was the Archbishop of Toledo and was either the son or the nephew of the Visigothic king Witiza and therefore unlikely to be related to Rodrigo.
Meanwhile the armies from Arabia and from Tunis that had gathered with Musa in Africa arrived in Gibraltar from Africa. They did so separately and disembarked in a rather disorderly manner which made Tarif fearful of what might happen next.
Camping by the Guadalete. . . así por esto como por formar su campo en buena parte para aguardar al Rey (Rodrigo) tomó la mas gente que pudo, y se vino marchando hasta llegar a las riberas de un Rio llamado en Arábigo Guidalin (Llamase hoy este rio corruptamente, Guadalete) el cual envió un mensajero al Arzobispo don Orpas, General del capo del Rey don Rodrigo pidiéndole que atento a q los dos campos venían cansados, y fatigada toda la gente, tuviese por bien de hacer entre ellos treguas por algunos días; y pareciéndole al don Orpas que era cosa q le estaba bien se las concedió.
Y estando en este estado los negocios de ambas partes la noche luego siguiente salió del campo de los Christianos un malvado traidor (q así se puede llamar, pues vendió a los suyos) ylíe vino huyendo al campo del Capitán Tarif, al cual llamaban por nombre Sisiberto, q andana en compañía del Arzobispo don Orpas (Oppas) eI cual lo avisó al Tarif diciendo q las treguas que avia pedido el General del Rey don Rodrigo por tres días, eran cautelosas. . . p57
Given the good news, Musa then decided to cross the Straits to join Tarif/Tariq. The end result was the creation of an Islamic army of 180 000 foot-soldiers and 80 000 cavalry-men plus a large number of other people required to support such a large military force. Rodrigo responded to this threat by deciding to face Tarif/Tariq personally with a Christian army led by a Captain General called Almerique. Rodrigo’s force was made up of an infantry of 130 000 men and a cavalry of 23 000. They set up camp in Fahe Alquidah. p59
Notes: Neither “Almerique” nor “Fahe Alquidah” appear in any of the other Islamic sources I have come across so far. Oddly in is in this Fahe Alquuidah - which according to the author was known in 1606 as "Campo de la Verdad" – that Almerique gave his troops a pep talk reminiscent of the “burning of the boats” speech given by Tarik that appear on many other sources.
Rodrigo nombró luego otro nuevo Alférez mayor en su lugar y el campo prosiguió su camino sin detenerse hasta que llegaron a vista del campo del General Tarif, riberas del Rio Guadalete, y en un buen llano mandó alojar y concertar su ejercito . . . el día siguiente salió por mandado del Rey don Rodrigo un Capitán, llamado por nobre Theodomiro, (Teodomiro) el cual era hombre de mucho esfuerzo . . .
Notes: Theodomiro’s small force was met with an equally small one sent by Tarif and the resulting skirmish ended as a draw, enough to encourage Rodrigo to make the decision to attack Tarif/Tariq’s camp. P60
. . . el Capitán Tarif prosiguiendo su vitoria pasó marchando sin detenerse con su campo hasta llegar a la ciudad de Córdova se enseñoreó de ella sin que le costase un solo hombre: y alojando su campo fuera de la ciudad y dentro. . .
Tarif . . . respeto de no aver preso al Rey don Rodrigo, pareciéndole que era lo que mas importaba para acabar de conquistar España . . . mando pregonar en su ejercito, que cualquier persona mora, o cristiano que se lo trújese preso, o muerto, le concedería grandes libertades. p63
Notes: Rodrigo’s fate remained unresolved and the author uses up several pages describing Tarif/Tariq‘s attempts to find him.
One final item of interest is the following.
La Infanta Egilona, así llamada por propio nombre, hija del Rey don Rodrigo . . .
Most other sources refer to Egilona as Rodrigo’s wife. In some accounts, Egilona marries Abd al Aziz who was Musa’s son.
Finally, it might be worth concluding this particular chapter with a quote from Elizabeth Drayson’s “The Lead Books of Granada” published in 2013
An instance of Luna’s inventiveness lies in his reworking of the story of . . . Rodrigo. In earlier versions . . . he has a wife called Egilona. Here Egilona becomes Roderick’s daughter., while the wife Luna (the author) bestows upon the king is an Arab princess called Zahra.
When Roderick dies in battle and she is widowed, she marries not the historical figure Abdalaziz, (Abd al-Aziz who was Musa’s son) but a new character called Mahometo Gilhair . . . This re-figuring of the narrative is poignantly idealistic. The Visigothic Christians King marries a Muslim bride, bringing the two conflicting sides together. Ultimately Zahra and her second husband become Christians, but Luna’s version of history unites Christian and Muslim rather than dividing them. (Chapter 5)
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